He landed and set me carefully on my feet in front of the stairs to the castle door.
A dozen people moved toward us with curious expressions. An older elf dipped her chin toward the drekkan and descended the steps. “Who have you found, Your Majesty?”
Majesty. Right. The drekkan was a king.
I stared at the elves approaching. They seemed kind enough. Most of their expressions were friendly and some, like the older woman, looked positively welcoming.
The drekkan shifted, and I turned and saw him making eye contact with a soldier. “Mylo. She needs to be contained in a dungeon.”
A dungeon?!
Mylo didn’t say anything, but his deep bow and hard expression left me no doubt that he would follow his king’s orders. The drekkan crouched and spread his wings, as if preparing to fly away.
“Wait!” I cried, lifting an arm. I dropped my arm at his imperious brow raise. This was not some horse I could grab by the mane. This was a monster with a magical bond that could force me to do… anything. But my mouth had never practiced restraining my thoughts. “Couldn’t youcontainme in a room?”
His chuckle vibrated through the air like a rolling thunder, and he shook his head as if I’d told a great joke. “I do not trust you to stay contained in a room.”
I tipped my head. “You don’t need to trust me. You have magic.” He could just order me to stay there. Or force me to promise. The bond would not let me leave in either case.
He brought his head lower so I could see his eyes better. “I will not use magic in such a way.”
I threw my hands up in exasperation. “But you’ll use it to kill me?”
Several elves around us gasped softly or raised their brows. Did they not expect this from a monster for a king?
“Correct,” he said, rising back up to his natural height. “Mylo.” The guard stepped forward, but so did the older woman. My heart sped up. Perhaps I would have an unexpected advocate in this woman.
“Is the girldangerous?” she asked.
Girl. I nearly groaned out loud. Could she be any more condescending? I’d been an adult for more than a decade.
The drekkan took several long moments to fan his gaze across the entire courtyard before settling it on me. Even through his grinding tones, venom laced every word. “She is fae.”
Those three words threw the courtyard into chaos. Most of the elves screamed and ran away. Thekingjumped into the sky and flew out of sight.
I spun, frantically hoping to find any of the friendly faces I’d seen minutes earlier, but they all disappeared. Horror and fear stared at me from anyone brave enough to not run out of my view.
Two strong hands gripped my upper arms from behind me. I tried to turn and see my captor, but he held me still.
“Don’t move.” The instructions came in a soft voice just above my head. They left no room for argument, but they weren’t harsh.
“I’m not dangerous.” I hated how my voice trembled, but I couldn’t help attempting to explain.
“I know.”
He knew? Did that mean he believed me? But he still held my arms as if he expected me to attack. I tried looking over my shoulder and squirmed enough to see Mylo’s impassive face.
His hands tightened, and I faced forward again.
“Be still,” he hissed. “There is more at stake here than you realize.”
“What does that mean?” I whispered. “What are you going to do with me?”
He waited a few more seconds, until even the older elf I’dhoped would speak for me had left the courtyard. He let go of my arms, moved to my left side, and gripped my arm while drilling his stone-grey eyes into mine. “I will do exactly as my king instructed. Contain you in a dungeon cell.”
Chapter 2: Aedan
Itapped the back of my fork silently against the table. The evening meal was supposed to be the best part of my day, but I couldn’t focus on anyone at my table when I had a dark sense that my new prisoner was frightened.
